62 FREE WAYS TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS PROFITS:

Transcription

1 JAY CONRAD LEVINSON 62 FREE WAYS TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS PROFITS: Plus Dozens of Other Marketing Tactics to Attract New Customers and Keep Them Buying 1

2 THE COMPLETE GUERRILLA MARKETER S STUDY GUIDE JAY CONRAD LEVINSON The Sessions The Power of Guerrilla Marketing Guerrilla Marketing Weapons Guerrilla Marketing Weapons Guerrilla Marketing Weapons Guerrilla Marketing Weapons The Psychology of Guerrilla Marketing Secrets of Guerrilla Marketing and Guerrilla Marketing Online How to Succeed with Your Guerrilla Marketing Attack Secrets to Saving Money and Being Creative with Guerrilla Marketing Golden Rules of Guerrilla Marketing Marketing and Technology: A Powerful Combination Guerrilla Marketing in Cyberspace Becoming a Customer Service Superstar Understanding the Impact of the Small-Business Revolution The Power of Advertising the Guerrilla Marketing Way Knowledge and Reality According to Guerrillas

3 The Power of Guerrilla Marketing What is Marketing? Marketing is any contact by any member of your company with any member of the public. This isn t only a formalized process marketing includes every bit of contact, from the way your phone is answered to the way your office looks. This means that everyone in your company is a part of your marketing team. Marketing at its healthiest is a circle that begins with your ideas for how you re going to generate revenue for your business. The circle closes when you are blessed with the patronage of repeat and referral customers. Only when marketing is a circle does it start producing profits for you. Marketing is an extended process, not an event. How is Guerrilla Marketing different from traditional marketing? 1. In traditional marketing, the primary investment is money. In Guerrilla Marketing, the primary investments are time, energy, and imagination. The more of these you invest, the less money you will need. 2. Traditional marketing intimidates many small-business owners who are not familiar with the concept. Guerrilla Marketing removes the mystery that has long surrounded marketing. 3. Traditional marketing has always been geared toward big business. Guerrilla Marketing has always been geared toward small business. 4. Traditional marketing measures how well it s doing by how many sales it generates. Guerrilla Marketing says that sales aren t bad, but profits are the numbers you should focus on. 5. Traditional marketing is based on judgment, which results in guesswork. Guerrilla Marketing is based on the laws of human behavior. 6. Traditional marketing says you should diversify your own business. Guerrilla Marketing says you should always maintain your focus. 7. Traditional marketing focuses on large groups. Guerrilla Marketing focuses on individuals. 3

4 8. Traditional marketing is often unintentional. It is too formalized and often overlooks important elements that aren t commonly considered the realm of marketing. Guerrilla Marketing is completely intentional. Everything the company does is seen as marketing. 9. Traditional marketing says that businesses should grow linearly by adding new customers on a regular basis. Guerrilla Marketing focuses on growing geometrically. In this way, Guerrillas have more transactions for each customer per year, increase their number of referrals, and add new customers, too. 10. Traditional marketing worships at the shrine of competition. Guerrilla Marketing promotes cooperation, which will serve your needs better than competition. 11. Traditional marketing believes that advertising, direct mail, or Web sites work by themselves. Guerrilla Marketing believes the only thing that works is marketing combinations. 12. Traditional marketing focuses on money. Guerrilla Marketing focuses on relationships, which lead to more money a subtle but important difference. 13. Traditional marketing is geared toward taking. Guerrilla Marketing is geared toward giving free information, free consultations, free samples. The more a company gives, the more it gets. 14. Traditional marketing does not make much of an allowance for technology because it changes so rapidly. Guerrilla Marketing embraces new technology whenever it can. 15. Traditional marketing identifies only a few marketing tools, most of which are in the mass media. Guerrilla Marketing identifies 100 different marketing weapons, 62 of which are absolutely free. The meaning of Guerrilla Marketing It all boils down to achieving conventional goals by using unconventional means. The conventional goals are profitability, joy, and success. The unconventional means are realizing that this is a process that will take a long time and many different weapons. You should feel in total control of your marketing at all times. 4

5 The importance of knowledge Guerrilla Marketing requires knowledge, but not the kind that comes from books. You need first-hand knowledge of your customers, what makes them tick, and what they re all about. You need knowledge of your prospects. What are they looking for in their lives? You need knowledge of your competitors. Even though a Guerrilla should always try to cooperate, your competitors will still be trying to compete. You need knowledge of businesses equivalent to yours, in your city, in your state, in your country, and around the world. You need knowledge of your industry and its changing face. You need knowledge of new technology that will affect your business and marketing. You need knowledge of current events because they might affect your marketing reality. You need knowledge of economic trends. Your customers and prospects will expect this from you. You need knowledge of your own product or service what makes it good, why people want it, and what might make it better. You need knowledge of your own community and the opportunities available for you there. You need knowledge of successful marketing. What s been out there for a while and what works? Why have the Maytag Repairman, the Energizer Bunny, and the Pillsbury Doughboy been around for so long? Exercises Whatever else you do, you are also in the marketing business. What have your marketing efforts looked like to date? How can you see them evolving as you become a Guerrilla Marketer? What are some ways you can increase the commitment of marketing in your business? Increasing your knowledge in many areas is the key to Guerrilla Marketing. What are some resources you can use to find the information you need? Make the resolution to spend time every week on this important pursuit. Take the time to study the way other companies market their products or services. Pay special attention to the marketing strategies you know have been successful. What can you learn from them? 5

6 Guerrilla Marketing Weapons Marketing Plan: A focused, seven-sentence plan for the marketing of your company. 2. Marketing Calendar: A projection of your marketing plan for a year into the future. This prevents emergencies, makes purchasing and budgetary decisions easier, and allows for an easy year-end analysis of which of your strategies worked and which didn t. 3. Niche/Positioning: Your positioning is where you stand in the minds of your prospects. Your niche is the portion of the population you wish to attract. These should shine through as you use all of your marketing weapons. 4. Company Name: There are only two kinds of names good names and bad names. Bad names remind people of another business, are difficult to spell or pronounce, or prohibit future expansion. Almost everything else is a good name. 5. Identity: This stems from truth and honesty about who your company is and what it stands for. Identity is the opposite of image, which is defined as a façade. 6. Logo: A visual representation of your company. This should look good at any size. A logo is a very important choice to make and should never be changed once you ve decided upon a good one. Two million businesses are formed in America each year, and your logo will help you stand out from these. 7. Theme Line: This is a set of words that summarizes what you stand for. Examples are Fly the Friendly Skies of United or This Bud s for You. These should increase recognition of your business over time. 8. Stationery: A subtle but important influence on your customers. Many opinions about a business will be based on its stationery, so make sure yours is attractive and fulfills your identity. 9. Business Card: A fantastic source of information about your company. Your business card should have all of your contact information, your logo, and, in many cases, is more effective if it folds open and contains additional information inside. 10. Inside Signs: Inside signs influence people at the point of purchase. They solidify the notion of what the customer is buying by connecting the marketing they ve seen outside your business with the product inside. 11. Outside Signs: These refer to something far cheaper and, in some ways, much more powerful than billboards. Investigate ways of advertising on community bulletin boards, where many people advertise their services. You can target the audience you reach by the location of the board. 6

7 12. Hours of Operation: A powerful marketing weapon you won t find in any book. In our 24-hour society, people need access to you when it s convenient for them. Make sure your customers can always reach a live person, voice mail, , or fax machine. 13. Days of Operation: Your business is not run for your convenience, but rather for the convenience of your customers. Being open on weekends could vastly increase the profits of many kinds of companies. 14. Window Display: These generate instant responses in the form of impulse purchases. Even if you don t have a window, consider partnering with someone who does. Window displays are a shorthand method for announcing all the good things about your place of business. 15. Concept: Every decade seems to be powered by a concept. In the 1980s, it was quality. In the 1990s, it was flexibility. In the new millennium, the overriding concept is going to be innovation. Make sure you are in step with the concepts of your times. 16. Word of Mouth: This marketing is based on the good things you do in your business, and it can be improved in the following ways. Take advantage of the moment of maximum satisfaction, the period up to 30 days after the customer makes a purchase during which the customer is enthusiastic enough to spread the word. By developing a first-time customer brochure, you re providing them with the right words to spread. Win them over so they will recommend you to many others. 17. Community Involvement: This is one of the most important weapons. The more you re involved with your community, the more they will be involved with you. Community involvement means connecting and aligning yourself with your community. This allows the members of your community to see your business as a friend, and it provides many valuable networking opportunities for you. 18. Neatness: Your customers will assume that you ll treat them in the same way you treat your premises. This is why your place of business should always be exactingly neat and clean. 19. Referral Program: A formalized process by which you ask all of your customers for the names of other people who might benefit from being on your mailing list. 20. Sharing: Putting yourself in a situation where you get to share marketing war stories. It s a great way to get ideas from others who have similar challenges to yours. 7

8 21. Guarantee: People don t like to take risks with their purchases, so a guarantee will make them feel better about parting with their money. A great competitive advantage is to offer a five-year guarantee when everyone else s lasts only one year. Exercises (Guerrilla Marketing Weapons 1-21) Many of the marketing weapons from this session refer to the structure and appearance of your business. What about your business can you change in light of this new information? What is your business s identity? How well is this reflected in your log, business card, and other marketing materials? What is your positioning in your market? What is your positioning in your community? What is the concept that is powering the marketplace today? How well does your business reflect this concept? What are some ways you can improve your business s performance? 8

9 Guerrilla Marketing Weapons Telemarketing: This marketing weapon works best when it s used business-tobusiness and when operating from a script. Gift Certificates: These work exceptionally well for businesses that never thought to use them before. Merely adding the line Ask about our gift certificates to your promotions can lead to thousands of dollars in extra sales per year. 24. Brochures: One of the most important marketing weapons, brochures enable you to provide all the details about your business to prospective clients. These are given out only to those who request them, and they can be used effectively in a two-step marketing campaign. 25. Electronic Brochures: This combines your brochure with media other than paper, such as an audiocassette or videocassette. Electronic brochures are attention-grabbing and are very effective when used in two-step marketing campaigns. 26. Location: The most important location of all is the Internet because Americans are quickly learning to shop for products using this new medium. A word of caution about physical location: if you own a retail store with the best location in town, make sure your prime location doesn t lull you into a false sense of security. Your other marketing efforts must still be top-notch! 27. Advertising: Advertising doesn t work by itself, only in the presence of all your other marketing weapons. They re symbiotic. But remember that advertising is only 1% of a successful marketing campaign. 28. Sales Training: This should be done weekly and repetitively. Sales training has a low cost but very high effectiveness. 29. Networking: This has the opposite meaning of what networking is to most people. Instead of surrounding yourself with peers, surround yourself with prospects. Instead of doing all the talking, ask questions and listen carefully to the answers. Instead of handing out your business card, look your prospect in the eye and ask for his or hers. Networking is about building relationships. 30 Quality: This is the second most important reason people patronize the businesses they do. Quality is not necessarily what you put into your product or service, it s what people get out of it. 9

10 31 Reprints and Blow Ups: When you run a print ad or when your business is mentioned favorably in the press, make copies and hang these clippings on community bulletin boards. You can also hang them in your business, include them in future mailings, or blow them up large and put them in your display window. 32 Flip Charts: These may be the least glamorous weapon, but they re very powerful. Flip charts give order, flow, and a strong visual element to a presentation. 33 Opportunities to Upgrade: These give your customer an incentive to spend more money with you. A larger, economy version of your product or a package deal save the customer money overall and contribute more to your bottom line. 34 Contests and Sweepstakes: These generate names for your mailing lists and generate excitement about your company. 35 Barter: An unfamiliar concept for most people, but it s an excellent way of getting the things you need and spreading the word about your company without spending a lot of money. 36 Club/Association Memberships: With these memberships, you can get industry information and separate yourself from the ranks of strangers. These are excellent places to showcase how hard you work, your quality, and your devotion. 37 Partial Payment Plans: Make it as easy as possible for people to pay for what you re selling. Offer an installment plan and accept all credit cards, not just the most popular ones. 38 Causes: Having a cause is a fast-growing marketing strategy in the United States. Most people will patronize your business if they are aware that, by doing so, they are contributing to a social or environmental cause. 39. Telephone Demeanor: How your telephone is answered is extremely important in terms of how your company is viewed by your prospects. Customers shouldn t be treated as an interruption of business, but rather why you re in business in the first place. 40. Toll-Free Number: These increase response rates to your offers anywhere from 30 to 700% when dealing with non-local prospects. Also a caveat make sure you don t spell a word with your phone number. People think they don t have to write down these word-based phone numbers because they ll remember them, but they often don t. 10

11 41. Free Consultations: These are easy to say yes to they imply that there will be no pressure and a lot of good information offered. But remember, it s not a presentation, it s a valuable consultation. Ask a lot of questions, but put a time limit on the appointment. 42. Free Seminars/Clinics: These are like free consultations to a lot of people. Offer information of value but don t try to sell anything until the very end. The people who attend these seminars are the hottest prospects. 43. Free Demonstrations: A chance for a prospect to see your product or service in person with no risk. 44. Free Samples: Giving away free samples of your product (or a smaller version of your service) is like buying new customers. 45. A Giver s Stance: Some companies are givers, some are takers. Take the giver s stance. Offer free consultations, seminars, demonstrations, samples, newsletters. People are attracted to giver companies and they avoid taker companies. Ask yourself what your customers want for free, then give it to them. 46. Fusion Marketing: This means marketing your company jointly with another business to share the costs and rewards. It can be as simple as displaying each other s brochures to forming a leads club. Exercises (Guerrilla Marketing Weapons 22-46) Many of the marketing weapons from this session focus on how your business reaches out to its prospects. How would you describe and rate your current efforts in this area? How might you improve? What is it like to contact your company by telephone? Is it easy for your customers to get through? Do they have to pay a long-distance fee? Once they get through, how are they treated? Make sure your company is seen as a giving company. What are some things you can give away to your customers and prospects? Consultations? Seminars? Demonstrations? Samples? Name 20 possible fusion-marketing partners and how you might be of service to each other. 11

12 Guerrilla Marketing Weapons Marketing on Hold: Simply playing company advertising when your customers are on-hold will generate a lot of interest in your specials and breakthroughs. 48. Past Success Stories: Showcase everything you ve done right in the past. Mention the names of the clients you ve helped and specifics of what you did for them. 49. Employee Attire: This doesn t necessarily mean establishing a dress code, but just know where to draw the line in terms of what is acceptable for your employees to wear. Make sure your employees represent the identity of your business. 50. Service: The third most important reason people patronize the businesses they do. Service is anything a customer wants it to be. Go way beyond customer satisfaction and customer delight to customer bliss. 51. Follow-up: Possibly the most important marketing weapon. Sixty-eight percent of lost business in America is from ignoring a customer after a sale. Send thankyou notes. Inquire as to their satisfaction. Follow up again at regular intervals. 52. Yourself and Your Employees: People have to buy you (or your employees) before they buy what you re selling. You are your own best marketing weapon. 53. Advertising Specialties: These are free gifts you can offer to increase your response rates. The best gifts include your business name AND your customer s name because this helps them make you part of their identity, and vice versa. 54. Catalog: People keep catalogs longer than they keep any marketing materials. Make sure you have a version online. 55. Yellow Pages Ads: Only use these if people regularly look for your sort of business in the yellow pages. If they do, forget about a beautiful design make your ad as full of information as you can. But don t direct people to look for your ad in the yellow pages that just invites them to see your competition. And if there are a lot of ads in your category, look for unique ways you can stand out. 56. Columns: Offer to write a column for local or relevant publications say you ll do it for free and request only that they identify your business and its phone number or Web address. Use the column not to sell your own company, but to offer valuable information. You can then use these as reprints (see weapon 31). 57. Articles: If you don t have time to write a regular column, writing an article (again, for free, as long as they print your business name and number) can be just as good. This establishes you as an expert and gives you plenty of material for reprinting. 12

13 58. Become a Speaker: Offer your services, for free, as a speaker on your business s field of expertise. In appreciation of your time, you will attract a lot of new business from that organization. 59. Newsletter: This is a great opportunity to follow up and stay in touch with your customers on a regular basis. Follow the rule of 75/25 when doing a newsletter 75% useful information, 25% sales information about your new products. 60. All Audiences: Determine all of the possible audiences for your product or service and pay attention to more than one of them. 61. Benefits List: This is a list of all the benefits of working with your company, with special attention paid to your competitive advantages. A benefits list should be created with the input of all levels of your business, as well as at least one customer who can provide an objective view. 62. Computer: No longer a luxury, computers are an absolute necessity for doing business today. They provide databases, information from worldwide sources, and easy production of many marketing materials. Use a computer! 63. Selection: This is an important reason people patronize the businesses they do. Make sure your products and services cover the full spectrum of what s expected from you. 64. Contact Time with Customer: The time the customer spends in your presence is a great opportunity to establish a relationship. You can also use this time to expand on the purchase they re making. 65. Hello and Goodbye: Say hello by making eye contact, smiling, and using the customer s name. Use the name again when you say goodbye. This is yet another chance to build a relationship. 66. Public Relations: Seventy-four percent of all the news in the newspaper has been planted there. Use the power of the media to get your business name out there, and use the resulting articles as reprints (see weapon 31). 67. Media Contacts: The media are inundated with request for free publicity, so the chances of your publicity appearing increase if you have contacts in the media. 68. Online Marketing: One of the most important forms of marketing available. Americans are increasingly turning to the Internet to shop, so start focusing your marketing efforts in this direction now! 69. Classified Ads: These are of growing importance because of the increase in the number of classifications available; and they get a lot of readership. There are also a number of free places to post your ad online. 13

14 70. Newspaper Ads: The majority of small-business marketing still occurs in newspaper ads, and its power comes from repetition. Your ad doesn t have to be huge, but make sure it appears at least once a week. 71. Magazine Ads: You re judged by where you advertise, and magazines give the greatest credibility of all. Try advertising in the local edition of a national magazine, and you only have to do it once. Your ad from the national magazine is then available to you as a reprint (see weapon 31). 72. Radio: Advertise on stations with active listeners, such as those with news shows or talk radio. These listeners are paying attention. People who listen to music stations don t pay as much attention to the advertisements. Exercises (Guerrilla Marketing Weapons 47-72) Many of the marketing weapons from this session focus on how your prospects are introduced to your business. What are the prime ways you currently attract customers? What shifts in your marketing do you now recognize might improve your bottom line? How much advertising do you currently run? How effective has it been? What are some other areas into which you might expand your advertising? Create a list of benefits of dealing with your business. What are some of your competitive advantages? How well have you done with communicating these benefits and advantages to your customers in the past, and how might that be improved? 14

15 Guerrilla Marketing Weapons Television: This is still the prime medium for advertising, and it s available at a lower cost than ever before. For the best prices, take advantage of local cable stations. But remember, emphasize the visual element of your commercial. Many people will hit the mute button and not listen to the words. 74. Infomercials: Whatever you think of them, these have a high success rate. Infomercials are a great place to use fusion marketing (see weapon 46), and they cost much less than you might imagine. 75. Movie Commercials: These are the advertisement slides you see before a movie begins at the theater. An excellent marketing tool because they are very inexpensive and very targeted. 76. Direct-Mail Letters: The length of these is not very important, but make sure they are in an appealing envelope and that every letter contains a P.S. 77. Direct-Mail Postcards: These generally draw more of a response than regular direct mail because the message is so concise and readily available to the recipient. 78. Postcard Decks: These are decks of direct-mail postcards, based around a common theme, wrapped in cellophane and mailed to prospects. The response rate is generally higher than for individual postcards, and the cost is much lower than mailing them individually because the price is shared with the other participating companies. Put a special offer on the card. 79. Posters: A growing art form in America. If you have a beautiful ad, consider blowing it up to poster size. Many people may hang it up in their homes and offices if it s really attractive. 80. Fax on Demand: This service can increase your response rate because it provides instant gratification. By dialing a number you ve set up, and entering their own fax number, your customers can have information faxed to them immediately. 81. Special Events: These attract publicity and prospects. Special events are a great activity to arrange with fusion-marketing partners (see weapon 46). 82. Trade Show Displays: Eighty percent of business for many companies comes from this venue. Look into how these can work for you, and invest in an exciting display. Trade shows can pay for themselves many times over because you re catching your prospects in an inquisitive mood. 83. Audio/Visual Aids: Whenever you can, appeal to your audience s visual sense by using diagrams, photographs, and videos. Show things to people rather than telling them, and they ll learn more and act on what they ve learned. 15

16 84. Spare Time: A great time to work on building relationships with your customers. You can use your spare time to write birthday or anniversary cards, letters, clip articles, and do many other little things that will appeal to your clients and let them know you care. 85. Prospects Mailing Lists: These are lists of people who have not yet bought your product but ought to. Use them to your best advantage. 86. Research Studies: We live in the Information Age where knowledge is power. Read studies or, better yet, create them yourself about what sort of things your customers enjoy, what their hobbies are, etc. This can give you a lot of personal information you can then use to build a relationship and better target your marketing. 87. Competitive Advantages: The things that you offer but that your competition doesn t. If you don t have a competitive advantage, invent one. 88. Marketing Insight: Study the insights of expert marketers to come up with new ideas and discover what s best for you. 89. Speed: Time isn t money, it s life itself. People don t want to waste their time. Figure out ways to speed up your response to your customers requests. 90. Testimonials: These are free to obtain and infinitely valuable. Use good testimonials in all of your marketing. Hang them on your walls. 91. Reputation: This is hard to build and easy to destroy. Bad word of mouth spreads faster than wildfire. So guard your reputation and protect it with all you ve got! 92. Enthusiasm: Enthusiasm in your company starts with you, spreads to your employees, and then spreads to your customers. The highest form of enthusiasm is passion. If you don t feel passion for your business, you should consider doing something else. 93. Credibility: People won t trust you without it. Make sure your marketing materials don t look amateurish or homemade. Credibility will enhance all of your other weapons. 94. Spying: Spy on yourself and spy on competitors. Call your company and see how you re treated on the phone. See how your request for information is processed. See if there s follow-up. Then call a competitor and make the same request. Compare the way you re treated both times. 95. Ease of Business: Be easy to do business with at every level, and your company will grow by leaps and bounds. 96. Brand Name Awareness: Your business name has to become a brand name because names are what people trust the most. 16

17 97. Designated Guerrilla: This is the person in your company who loves marketing and loves to get updates on the best kinds of marketing out there to use in your business. If you re a business owner, the best designated guerrilla is yourself. 98. Customer Mailing List: Your current customers all have the potential to become lifelong customers and sources of referrals, so do everything you can to keep in touch with them and find out as much as you can about them. This will help in building lasting relationships. 99. Competitiveness: This is the quality that will ensure enthusiasm for learning and trying new things to grow your business. Competitiveness will make you a better marketer Satisfied Customers: Every one of these is another weapon in your arsenal. Everything you ve done right in the past is a promise of what you will do right in the future. Satisfied customers are a source of referrals, repeat business, testimonials, and reputation. Exercises (Guerrilla Marketing Weapons ) Several of the marketing weapons from this session are based on technology. How much technology do you currently employ in your business? How does that compare with the technological level of your competitors? What new technology could you acquire (or how can you better utilize what you already have) to improve your marketing efforts? People trust brand names the most, and that will draw customers better than anything else. How might you position your product or service as a brand name? Take the time to regularly spy on yourself and your competitors every week, if possible. Look at what you learn as a customer would how do you measure up? How easy is it to do business with you? In the next few days, ask five of your best customers for testimonials and find some ways to incorporate these into your marketing plan. Exercises (Guerrilla Marketing Weapons 1-100) Categorize ALL of the Guerrilla Marketing weapons from the past few sessions using the following system: Category 1 I m using that weapon now, and I m doing a good job of it. Category 2 I m using that weapon now, but the way I m using it could be improved. Category 3 I m not using that weapon now, but I ought to be. Category 4 That weapon is not appropriate for me right now. 17

18 The Psychology of Guerrilla Marketing Traditional marketing relies on guesswork. Guerrilla Marketing relies on psychology to take the guesswork out of why people spend their money. Psychology has helped us effectively answer the following questions for maximum benefit. Why do people decide to make a purchase? Purchase decisions are made in the unconscious mind, which is accessed through the process of repetition. What is the strongest possible marketing strategy? People tend to be either left-brained or right-brained. Left-brained people love logical reasoning. Right-brained people make decisions based on emotions and aesthetics. The strongest marketing strategy combines both of these aspects into one package. What is the strongest bond you can form with your customers? There are two bonds that are formed whenever business is transacted: the human bond and the business bond. Most marketing is aimed at making the business bond stronger, but Guerrilla Marketing focuses on the human bond. Instead of talking about business right away with a prospect, you might talk about sports or current events. The stronger the human bond, the stronger the business bond will be. And the human bond is perfected through the art of listening. What are the messages that marketing sends? All marketing contains two messages. The first is called the stated message, which is what you want the marketing to say. The other message is the meta message. This refers to the message behind the stated message. In other words, what did your ad look like? What did your commercial sound like? What degree of professionalism was there? You need to be aware that this communicates as much as your stated message. 18

19 How does Guerrilla Marketing use psychology to make a profit? Guerrillas embrace the idea that the only way to get a share of the market is to first gain a share of the mind and if you gain a share of the mind, the market will follow. There are two schools of thought in American marketing today: Freudian and Skinarian. Freudian is traditional marketing based on an attitudinal change. It s been relied upon for a long time to bring a message to a prospect and change his or her attitude to the degree that they want to act on it. Skinarian marketing is based on the studies of B. F. Skinner, the behavioral psychologist who talked about behavior modification. If you were to use this philosophy, you could place an ad stating This wonderful value is available to you only if you act by April fifteenth. This modifies a person s behavior. If they don t take action by the fifteenth, they will lose out on the special deal. Guerrilla Marketers use both. They are constantly trying to change people s attitudes and increase their awareness while peppering them with special offers and good reasons to come in and buy now. How do Guerrilla Marketers treat their customers? Guerrillas know that all customers are not created equal. That s why they have an A list of customers and a B list of customers. The A list is comprised of the people who buy the most, spend the most, and are the easiest to sell to. They create the least problems. The B list is all their other customers. Guerrilla s treat the B list like royalty and the A list like family. Nobody gets ignored, but the A list gets special attention. Your best customers should be treated that way. 19

20 How do Guerrilla Marketers make it easier to buy from them? Guerrillas understand that to buy anything is a difficult decision because people are afraid to make a mistake. For someone to change their purchase pattern and buy something from you is a hard step. Guerrillas make the decision easier by creating soft steps. Soft steps are a free consultation, a free seminar, a brochure, a demonstration, or a sample. Once someone has taken one or more of these soft steps, the step of buying doesn t seem nearly as hard. What does color have to do with your marketing campaign? Research has shown that color is very important to the decision-making process. Advertising that is done in color increases the retention of the message by 57% and improves the inclination to buy by 41%. Color costs more, of course, but these figures make up for the extra expenditure. How can you stand out from the competition? One of the things that will help the most is your attention to details. The more attention you pay to what other people tend to overlook, the more you ll stand out. Your customers know the difference. These details create a deeper psychological bond. Signing letters and writing notes in your own handwriting is an important detail. Personal phone calls are an important detail. These cost no money but end up making your customers feel unique and special. How do Guerrillas view marketing? Differently than other people. They don t view marketing as a way to sell their product or gain more profits, although these benefits always result from the Guerrilla attitude. Guerrillas view marketing as an opportunity to educate their prospects to succeed at whatever it is their prospects want to succeed at. Marketing is your chance to help your prospects succeed. Marketing for Guerrillas is the art and science and business of getting people to change their minds to the point where they want your product or service. 20

21 What are the characteristics of a successful marketer? Successful marketers the world over have the same set of personality characteristics in common: 1. Patience. Scientific studies have shown that it takes nine exposures to a marketing message to move someone from total apathy to purchase readiness. The problem is that for every three messages you put out, people will only pay attention to one. This means you actually have to put the message out 27 times before the prospect takes action. But this takes a lot of time, and when results don t come soon, most marketers start over and change their message to one they think will work better. This is a mistake. A successful marketer has the patience to keep putting out the same message even when the profits aren t rising yet. 2. Imagination. Imagination isn t just about clever headlines or visuals, it s about coming up with new ways of having your message penetrate into the minds of your audience. If you re using direct mail and know that your prospects receive tons of it every day, imagine what you can do to make your piece stand out. Using 11 different stamps on the envelope might do it, or sending the mail from Portugal so a foreign stamp and postcard will grab their attention. That s imagination. 3. Sensitivity. Successful marketers are sensitive to their market, their time in history, the time of year, what their competition is doing or saying, and any other background factors that might affect their success. But they re most sensitive to what is going on in their prospect s mind. And with that sensitivity, they are able to say the right things to the right people at the right time. 4. Eagle Strength. After being exposed to the same message every day, the people in your life might start to get bored with it and ask you to market in a different way. Your co-workers and employees may say things like, I m getting tired of your marketing. Don t you think it s time to change it? But the fact is, your customer is not bored with your marketing. They will spend any amount of time reading your marketing materials trying to justify the fact that they re doing business with you. So successful marketers have the strength to stand up to the wellmeaning people who don t understand how marketing works. 21

22 5. Generosity. Successful marketers think in terms of what they can give rather than what they can take. They want to share important information with their customers and give away things that they might like. Generosity opens the conduits through which the profits flow. 6. Aggressiveness. Although they re allowed to be shy in other situations, Guerrillas are aggressive marketers. They won t hesitate to spend more money in the beginning of their marketing campaigns because they know that as their profits rise, the percentage of the total income spent on advertising will fall. 7. Constant Learning. Successful marketers realize that life is changing, technology is changing, and marketing especially is changing and unless they keep up, they re falling behind. Therefore, constantly learning one thing after another is the only way to prosper in changing times. 8. Action. Successful marketers are people of action. They are not just thinkers, they re doers. What do Guerrilla Marketers look for in television commercials? Guerrillas look for motivation more than entertainment. A commercial should be clear about its competitive advantage. Television is a visual medium and commercials should take advantage of that and be intensely visual. Professional-looking production is very important. Amateurish commercials should be avoided at all costs. Commercials should be believable and compelling. Viewers should feel a powerful desire from watching the commercial. Advertisers should focus on the reasons for buying the product and not on being clever or having special effects or using a celebrity spokesperson. Great advertising demonstrates the benefits of great products. Commercials should be fascinating every time they re experienced. What s funny once won t be funny the tenth time. Successful commercials, however, always peak the interest. 22

23 Exercises Choose some of your best customers and ask them why they decided to do business with you. How does this compare to what you now know about the psychology of consumerism? What are some ways you can use this information to attract even more customers? What are some messages that your marketing of the past has sent? In reviewing them now, do you think you sent the correct message? What was your presentation like? Did it look absolutely professional and painstaking, or did it look more amateurish? What steps can you take to increase your professional image? What are some details you can pay attention to that will amaze your customers? Which of these are not offered by your competition? How many characteristics of a successful marketer do you embody? If it s not all eight, make a commitment right now to take action on more of them in the next few months. These are the characteristics that will forever determine your success in business, so work hard to make all of them a part of your life! 23

24 13 Secrets of Guerrilla Marketing and Guerrilla Marketing Online The 13 powerful secrets of Guerrilla Marketing Commitment: Even mediocre marketing with commitment works much better than brilliant marketing without commitment. Commitment is what you need to keep going even when the results are slow in coming but you will get results if you persevere. Commitment is what it takes to be a world leader in your field. Investment: Nothing you spend on marketing is an expense. Marketing is always an investment in your future prosperity. It s the best investment you can make because the returns are high and there s absolutely no risk if you do it right and you re learning here how to do it right. Consistent: It takes a while for people to get to know about you, so you must be consistent in your identity and your approach to marketing. The headlines can change, the offers can change, even the prices can change, but your media and your message must be consistent. Confident: Confidence is another reason people patronize the businesses they do their confidence in you and your confidence in your own business. Your customers will gain confidence when they see your level of commitment to them and to the investment of consistent marketing. Patient: Patience is the key to all of the secrets so far. Become a patient person. Assortment: None of your weapons works by itself not advertising, not direct mail, not Web sites, not telemarketing. Successful marketing campaigns use a wide assortment of weapons. So test as many as you can to compile the assortment that works best for you. Convenient: Everything you offer must be convenient to your customers. They will appreciate your awareness of how valuable their time is and the elimination of any of your practices that may waste it. Your product must be easy to find and easy to pay for. Subsequent to the Sale: Making a sale is great, but Guerrillas know that profits don t really start flowing until after the sale is made. That s when the lucrative opportunities for repeat and referral business will soon have the money flowing in. 24

25 Amazement: People would be absolutely amazed if they knew what you went though in order to offer the excellence that you do. Use your marketing as an opportunity to generate that amazement because it will lead to attention. People want to be amazed. Measurement: You must know the truth about your marketing campaigns effectiveness, and that means accurately measuring how well each weapon works for you. Find out what is leading your customers to you, and concentrate on those areas. Involvement: Your customers want you to be involved with their success. You display your involvement through your follow-up, your attention to their details, the friendly relationship you build. And they can be involved with your business, too, by completing customer questionnaires and providing testimonial letters. Dependent: We are no longer in the age of the lone wolf. We are an interdependent society. Your business is dependent on every other business in your city, state, country and, through the Internet, the world. Making strategic alliances and fusion marketing arrangements is the way to stay at the forefront of your field. Armament: This is the equipment necessary to wage and win battles. The armament of Guerrillas is technology. Fax machines, pagers, advanced voice mail, computers these are the types of equipment you will need to win the war. The rules for Guerrilla Marketing online You have to be good at marketing in general before you ll be good at marketing online. And when you do start marketing online, you have to know what it entails. Online marketing goes beyond having a Web site. It extends into , becoming active in forums, and involving yourself in relevant chat rooms. It s linking to and from other sites, hosting online conferences, and posting classifieds. Online marketing means research. The more information you have, the better marketing you can do. Online marketing means promoting your Web site online. Most importantly, online marketing means becoming familiar with how the Web works. The people who are losing money online think that just because they have a Web site, people will visit it. It doesn t work like that. 25

26 8 important elements of a Web site 1. Planning: Why do you want a Web site in the first place? What do you expect it to do? What will your customers gain from it? Once you have a clear view of your mission, it will be easier to carry it out. 2. Content: The content is what will bring people back for more. When people visit your Web site, you want them to have wonderful experiences loaded with content that s fresh and new all the time. 3. Design: This refers to what your site looks like. There is a moment right after a visitor comes to the site called the stay or bail moment. This is when he or she decides, based on what your site looks like, whether they will look at your site or go somewhere else and this decision is based solely on how your site looks. If it s ugly or amateurish, people are going to leave. 4. Area of Involvement: A successful Web site involves interactivity. Get your visitors to participate in a pool, complete a survey, answer some questions, or register to get a prize. This is a great way to get to know the names and addresses of the people who come to your site. 5. Production: You can either hire a designer to create your site or buy the software that will allow you to do it yourself. Remember, your site needs to be changed at least weekly, or else you ll fall behind. 6. Follow-up: Never take for granted the fact that someone has gotten in touch with you. Follow up every online contact you get, by , by an order confirmation, by a thank-you letter anything. Just make sure you stay in touch with the people who visit your site on a regular basis. Get them to come back over and over and make visiting your site a part of their daily routine. 7. Promotion: When you go online, you exist in a vacuum. Nobody will know you re there unless you promote that site offline. Include your Web address in all of your marketing. 8. Maintenance: A Web site is like a baby. It s not something you can put out in the world and forget about. It s something that needs nurturing and attention on a regular basis. 26

27 What you must master You must also master the ability of being concise. People s eyes behave differently when viewing things on an illuminated screen. They are attracted to short words, short sentences, and short paragraphs. Break the information into bits and pieces. Personalization is another ability to master. Make sure your responses are personal. Make people feel unique. And the last truth is the rule of thirds: When you determine what your online marketing budget will be, divide that budget into three equal parts. The first third should be spent on development (planning, writing, design, etc.). The second third should be spent on promotion (online and offline marketing of the site). The final third should be spent on maintenance (keeping your site fresh and updated). Exercises Rate every one of your marketing strategies, past and present, by the 13 secrets of Guerrilla Marketing (commitment, investment, consistent, confident, patient, assortment, convenient, subsequent to the sale, amazement, measurement, involvement, dependent, and armament). Give yourself a letter grade, from A to F, for each category. If you don t currently have an online presence, list all the ways you think it s possible to benefit from this investment. If you do, list the benefits you ve received so far and the ones you hope to receive in the future. For each of these benefits, create a strategy based on at least one of the eight important elements of a Web site (planning, content, design, area of involvement, production, follow-up, promotion, and maintenance). 27

28 How to Succeed with Your Guerrilla Marketing Attack The 10 steps of a Guerrilla Marketing Attack 1. Research: Gather information on your market, your product, your media, your competition, your industry. Investigate your customers and the technology that will help you reach them best. Determine what your benefits are. And always research the innovations on the Internet. Research is the first stage in any successful marketing attack. 2. Benefits List: Don t be modest here pull out all the stops. List the benefits of working with you, and invent your competitive advantage. 3. Select Your Weapons: Choose from the 100 Guerrilla Marketing weapons the ones that will work best for you. You won t launch them all at once, of course. Put them into priority order and, next to each one, list the date it will be implemented and the person who will be in charge. 4. Create Your Guerrilla Marketing Plan: The plan should be seven sentences. Answering the following questions: What is your marketing asking people to do? Which benefits are you going to stress? Who is your audience or target audiences? Which marketing weapons will you use? What is your niche or positioning in the marketplace? What is your identity? What is your marketing budget? 5. Make your Guerrilla Marketing Calendar: Create a chart of twelve rows and five columns. Label the columns in the following manner: Month List all the months of the year on the twelve rows. Thrust What is the thrust of your marketing in each month? Are you releasing a new product? Announcing a sale? Media Which media will you use in each month? Money How much money will you spend on your marketing in each month? Rating At the end of the year, grade yourself with an A, B, C, D, or F as to how well the marketing worked for each month. 28

29 6. Find Fusion-Marketing Partners: Who are your allies when it comes to marketing? Who will help you spread the word in exchange for you helping to spread their word? Look for partners who have the same prospects and standards that you have. These might be in your community, in your industry, or on the Internet. You should have as many fusion-marketing partners as possible. 7. Launch Your Attack: Do this in slow motion. Never be in a hurry to launch an attack. Take your time on each step. Launching your attack should take place over a period of time. Many people spend as many as 18 months launching an attack. This will allow you to be comfortable with and confident in your marketing plan. 8. Maintain the Attack: This is where the attack starts getting difficult and where it s possible to lose the most money. Even if you ve done everything right up until this step, it s possible your results won t be immediate. Even if this is the case, never abandon your attack! You ll waste the money you ve invested in your marketing already, and you ll lose out on the future profits. Don t give up! 9. Keep Track: Measure your results. Know which of your marketing efforts brought each of your clients to you. Where did they hear about you? Why are they doing business with you? This is the way to know where your marketing successes and failures are. 10. Improve in All Areas: Improve your message, your media, your budget, your results. This stems from how well you keep track and determine which of your marketing weapons are pulling their own weight. 29

30 Understanding the powers and limitations of marketing People only pay attention to what interests them. Make your marketing interesting or people will not notice it. People are influenced by marketing far more than they realize. Almost every purchase people make is because of some form of marketing, but they don t even know it. Consistency is much better than a single impact. If you have a limited budget, running a small ad over time will produce far more results than a big ad run once. This is because of the power of repetition. The more specific you can be, the better you will be at marketing. Mention specific names and numbers and your prospective customers will be able to better relate to what you re saying. A lot of marketing copy is almost always better than a little. You need to give people enough information to make an intelligent buying decision. But if you do use a lot of copy, make sure you break it up with subheadlines or photographs. Studies have shown that in the cases of long ad copy, readership falls off significantly after the first 50 words, but hardly at all between the 50th and the 1,000th words. It s very important that you be timely. Don t miss out on trends. Keep abreast of what s happening in the world. Watch a TV news show and read a metropolitan newspaper every day, and read a newsmagazine every week. Also read one industry publication and one marketing publication. Finally, do a weekly surf. Take an hour or two each week to surf the Internet looking for competition, fusion-marketing partners, and how your Web site compares to everyone else s. Remember that technology empowers you like never before. You can now do things very easily and cheaply that were once too expensive or complex to create. And it gives you the power to innovate and come up with new ideas for marketing and making your customers happy. Your marketing should never talk about yourself. It should only talk about your prospect and how his or her situation will be improved by using your product. 30

31 Exercises Create a Guerrilla Marketing plan by answering the following questions with one sentence each: What is your marketing asking people to do? Which benefits are you going to stress? Who is your audience or target audiences? Which marketing weapons will you use? What is your niche or positioning in the marketplace? What is your identity? What is your marketing budget? On the following page, create a Guerrilla Marketing Calendar by filling in the provided chart. 31

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33 Secrets to Saving Money and Being Creative with Guerrilla Marketing 13 tips that help you save more money 1. Do it yourself when you can. Don t hire people to do what is easy for you to do on your own. 2. Small is beautiful. When you do hire someone, work with small businesses rather than large ones. Run small ads and lots of them. Write short commercials and run many of them. 3. Establish an in-house advertising agency or use a media buying service. Agencies get a 15% discount when they place ads for you, and you can get the same if you establish yourself as an in-house ad agency. A media-buying service might be even more helpful. They can save you money while directing you through the unknown world of print media. 4. Obtain free research. A customer questionnaire gives you the best information you can possibly get. It will show you what makes your customers tick as well as how you can attract more customers just like them. 5. Make reprints. Reprints of ads and PR stories are great additions to future mailings, ads, and A/V displays. 6. Experiment and test. Find out what s working the best for you and what isn t working at all. 7. Stick with one campaign. When you find out what works best, stick with that campaign. 8. Write timeless brochures. It costs a lot to create effective brochures, and the last thing you need is to redo it every year. So don t say anything that will make your brochure dated. 9. Find multiple uses for your marketing materials. For example, use a photograph in your ad, Web site, brochure, poster, signage, etc. Since you can use them in many ways for years to come, you can spend more on first-class marketing materials. 33

34 10. Avoid vampire marketing. This is something that sucks attention away from your basic offer or basic premise. Humor is a vampire. So are special effects and cleverness. People pay more attention to humor than to your message. Don t be Dracula when it comes to your marketing. 11. Investigate affordable television marketing. There are many ways of creating commercials for $1,000 or less. 12. Market more to customers than noncustomers. It costs six times as much to sell something to a noncustomer than it does to sell the same thing to an existing customer. 13. Open your mind to the Internet. You have to be very familiar with the powers and limitations of the Internet in order to make it a cost-effective marketing tool. But once you know how to use it, it can help you in many ways. The 7 steps for being a creative marketer 1. Inner Amazement: Realize that every product or service especially yours has something within it that is unique and absolutely amazing. 2. Translating Amazement into Benefits: Stress your competitive advantage! 3. Realizing People Don t Believe Marketing: Most marketing is instantly dismissed as unbelievable. Your job is to state your premise believably and honestly. Relate to your audience in its own everyday language. 4. Capturing Interest: People only pay attention to what interests them, and they have better things to do with their lives than pay attention to your marketing. So capture their interests up front. 5. Telling People What to Do Next: Do you want them to call an 800 number? Fill out a coupon? Go to a Web site? You must tell them exactly what to do. 6. Making It Clear: Your message must be clear to your prospects. 7. Testing Against Strategy: Does your finished marketing piece fulfill your marketing strategy? If not, throw it away. Stay on track. 34

35 How do you come up with marketing ideas? There s an effective technique that has been used throughout history for coming up with the best ideas. The great thing about it is that if you do it right, it should only take about 24 hours to come up with some dynamic ideas and strategies. First, spend five minutes doing direct thinking. That is, try to come up with the idea right there. Concentrate hard and focus for five minutes, and then write down all the ideas you come up with. These may be good or bad they re just for priming your consciousness. Second, spend five minutes on lateral thinking. Study your customers. Study your prospects. Study your competition. Study what s happening on the Internet. Study what s happening in the marketing world. This will prime your unconsciousness. Third, spend another five minutes on direct thinking. This, too, will prime your unconscious mind for coming up with ideas. Fourth, forget about it. Totally remove your ideas from your mind. Do something else. Just forget it completely and trust that your unconscious mind has been primed the right way with your direct and lateral thinking. Your unconscious mind will then come up with an idea for you while you re doing something else. Maybe it will be while you re falling asleep or while you re dreaming; maybe it will be while you re taking a shower or eating a meal. When you do come up with an idea, make sure you measure it against your strategy. And if it doesn t measure up, start again. Your unconscious can come up with unlimited ideas using this technique. Coming up with a Guerrilla advertising strategy Advertising is not marketing, it s only a part of marketing. But you ve got to pay a lot of attention to it because it s a very expensive part, and mistakes could cost a lot. So make sure you re on target with your advertising by coming up with an advertising strategy. An advertising strategy is very short only six sentences. Have a sentence on each of the following topics: The purpose of the advertising. The prime benefit the advertising will stress. The secondary benefits the advertising will stress. The audience or targeted audiences the advertising is aimed at. The action the advertising will generate. The true personality of your company. 35

36 50 Golden Rules of Guerrilla Marketing Golden rules to guide your thinking Don t seek instant gratification. Be patient and far-seeing. Accurately defining your marketing and markets dramatically increases your profitability. Gear your marketing toward the reasons people really buy from you, other than instant gratification. It s far easier to sell the solution to a problem than to sell a positive benefit.your own customer list is the best in the world, but only if it bulges with information about each customer. Display your reverence for your customers by following up. Design your business to operate for the convenience of your customers. Make it easy to do business with you. Questions lead to answers. Answers lead to customer rapport. Customer rapport leads to profits. The most effective marketing is seen as sell time rather than show time. When you have a new offer, enthusiastically announce that it s new, but don t forget to mention why it s good. The more know-how you have about the marketing process in general, the more profits you will earn. Your marketing techniques and tactics must be honest beyond reproach. Everything in your marketing should be designed to increase your profits, not just your sales, responses, or traffic. Profits! Golden rules to guide your effectiveness It s easier to achieve a healthy share of mind if you first obtain a healthy share of market. Emphasize the meat and potatoes of what you re offering rather than the plate upon which they re served. Your marketing should capture and hold the interest of as many prospects as possible. Make sure your timing is right. People will remember the most clever part of your marketing, so make sure it pertains directly to what you re selling. 36

37 Everybody loves a bribe. Give away free gifts, brochures, or consultations as rewards for business or favors. The key is not to save money but to make every investment pay off handsomely. It s easier to get someone to take the hard step of buying from you if they first take the softer step of requesting more information. Tiny shares of gigantic markets are profitable if you serve the market one person at a time. Don t invest money in originality when the investment should be in generating profits. Profits are maximized when you practice innovative marketing and protect yourself from other Guerrillas. Capitalize upon your unique niche in the marketplace. It s possible to have your product sold in almost any store if you use Guerrilla Marketing for leverage. Marketing will succeed only if time and energy are devoted to it regularly. Become oriented more to cooperation than competition. Golden rules to guide your marketing materials Identify and/or create your competitive advantages, then concentrate on marketing them. If you have ten hours to spend creating an ad, spend nine of them on the headline. The right words will propel a great idea toward success. The wrong words will doom a great idea to failure. Everyone to whom you market is a human being first and a customer next. Avoid the use of humor unless it is pertinent to your offering and doesn t distract from it. The believability and persuasion of your marketing increases in direct proportion to how much specific data you can provide. Many marketing weapons attain their maximum effectiveness only when they are combined with other weapons of marketing. Despite the solidity of your commitment to a plan, sometimes you ve got to have a gimmick. Let a pro produce your marketing materials because even a hint of amateurishness can actually lose sales for you. 37

38 Golden rules to guide your actions The more you spy on your competition, your industry, and yourself, the more opportunities you ll find to improve. You can create a path of least resistance to the sale by paving the path with credibility. You shouldn t fix it until you re absolutely positive it s broken. It s wise to aim to be first in line, but it s often more profitable to be second in line. Businesses that succeed will be the ones that prove they care. Companies that think of what they can give to people are better than those that think of what they can take. In networking, ask questions, listen to answers, and focus on the problems of the people you re talking to. If you re going to pioneer, you must be prepared for walls of apathy and fear. To succeed at marketing during an economic downturn, focus your efforts on existing customers and larger transactions. If you have an especially important client or customer, market to that person in an especially important way. Operate slowly from your Guerrilla Marketing calendar. A Guerrilla is never in a hurry. Treat sales transactions as starts or continuations of long and lasting relationships, not as single events. If you don t take control of your marketing, your company s future will be in the hands of your competitors. Remember, rules even golden rules are made to be broken, but you d better know them inside-out before breaking one. 4 advantages small businesses have over large businesses More flexibility. More personalized service. Warmer and closer relationships. Faster speed due to lack of bureaucracy. 38

39 5 most important allies for a small business Information about your own offering and about your customers. The customers themselves for referral power and repeat purchase possibilities. Employees who know how to make customers feel unique. Marketing insight that helps you capitalize on your advantages. Fusion-marketing partners the world over. The biggest changes in Guerrilla Marketing since its development Decrease in the price of television advertising. Increase in the market size of senior citizens, Asian and Hispanic people, and females. The move toward direct marketing. The attitudes of customers they are now more demanding, less forgiving, in a hurry, and appreciative of caring and convenience. The increase in the amount of fusion-marketing going on at large and small levels. Recessions, which have brought about new marketing tactics. Smaller families and dual-income earners in one family. Friendlier technology and easier-to-access data in the form of the Internet. Exercises How many of these golden rules were you familiar with before listening to this session? How many have you broken inadvertently? These 50 golden rules are the basis for a business that is amazingly successful. Become intimately familiar with them, and spend the next few months integrating them into your business and life. What advantages does your small business specifically have over larger competitors? How many of these have you integrated into your marketing? What are ways you can use them to make your business shine out in the crowd? Every business has many potential allies. What are your strongest allies, and how well have you organized and utilized them? 39

40 Marketing and Technology: A Powerful Combination How has technology changed small business in the past 10 years? Technology was once too expensive for the little guy, but now small businesses can use technology as their secret weapon. Technology is now easy to use, easy to afford, and enables small businesses to appear as experts, professional, impressive, and as important as large businesses. As technologies develop and change at a faster pace, and their prices continue to fall, it s easy to get overwhelmed and resist them all. Don t! Technology will be more important than ever to your success in the coming century. Start learning about it now. Wait too long, and the waters will truly be over your head. Technology allows Guerrillas to market and to interact with customers through newsletters and brochures, faxes and Web sites, catalogs, direct mail, flyers, research questionnaires, and signs. These are the weapons of technology. Where geography once limited Guerrillas to their own community, the Internet now allows them to compete in the global community. Where once they had to deal with the commuting, and the constraints of a professional wardrobe, their home office has cut the commute and changed their attire from conventional to comfy. They re spending more time with their families. They re spending less time at work. What s really behind technology? Technology has far less to do with machines than it does with people. When you communicate online with someone, you re not connecting with a machine. You re connecting with a person. You re only using a machine to do it. What does it cost to get what you need? All the technology you ll need costs less than $4,000. That will get you a good computer, a speedy modem to go online and receive faxes, a laser printer, a scanner, and a dedicated phone line. And, of course, you ll need to buy the software to control all this. What are the prime benefits of technology? The prime purpose of technology is to save precious time, but there are others: reaching new markets, marketing globally, competing with the giants, customizing your market, dazzling customers with your service and caring, and making quantum leaps in efficiency. 40

41 What does it mean to be a virtual Guerrilla? The definition of virtual is Existing in essence or effect, though not actual fact. And today, virtual is used to mean being connected through technology. Guerrillas use technology to stay connected with their customers, bosses, employees, suppliers, and other Guerrillas. The virtual state of mind is becoming more of a lifestyle and workstyle than ever. Many Guerrillas are experiencing the freedom that technology can bring by working from home offices. Virtuality means flexibility. Even big companies are encouraging their employees to create virtual offices in their homes. Those who work from virtual offices are known as telecommuters. What do you need to start a virtual office today? A phone, a desk, a comfortable chair, a computer, a fax modem, a printer, a copier, a cellular phone, and subscriptions to a couple of online services. Virtual offices can also benefit from charge accounts with FedEx, a laptop computer, a pager, and a scanner. A virtual office can allow you to be connected anytime or anywhere, and you can always disconnect if you want to escape work for a while. You ll also need a modicum of privacy and enough discipline to keep yourself focused and on task when the distractions of being at home surface. If you re planning on going virtual yourself, make sure you don t run afoul of any zoning laws, landlords, or neighbors. Also make sure that you have enough electrical power to run all of the equipment you need. And keep abreast of tax laws relating to having a home office. Current laws state, Your home office can be deductible if your major income comes from self-employment or you can prove your employer requires that you work from home. What are the benefits of running a virtual office? Increased revenue, increased productivity, better customer service, increased revenue opportunities, and improved morale, to name a few. It offers a higher quality of life by giving workers more control over their time and environment, reducing the time and stress spent on commuting, and making work more interesting and efficient. 41

42 The ten attitudes important to existence as a virtual Guerrilla 1. You operate according to plan. Your plan is brief, clear, and able to guide your business as well as your marketing. 2. You grow your business by a calendar. This helps you see into the future and be proactive rather than reactive. 3. You are the essence of flexibility. Flexibility can be a major competitive advantage. Remember, in an era of increasingly sophisticated customers, if you can t bend, you ll break. And also know that the more technology you embrace, the more flexibility you can offer. 4. You are a giver, not a taker. You give away valuable things consultations, demonstrations, samples, seminars, etc. Remember that information is a valuable commodity. Why not mine the Internet for data and freely share it? 5. You must look professional. Everything connected with your business stationery, business cards, brochures, flyers, etc. must inspire confidence and trust. Answer your phone in a way that makes your callers feel good. Your office may be virtual, but your excellence is real. 6. You embrace the spirit of competitiveness. No matter what business others may think you re in, you re really in the marketing business. 7. You are alert to fusion opportunities. You re as alert to cooperation as you are to competition. Your entrepreneur radar is attuned to fusion opportunities in marketing, data, technology, even office space. 8. You are at ease with technology. Technology is no longer a luxury; it s an absolute necessity. 9. You are the very soul of follow-up. You prove it by the way you are in constant communication with your customers and prospects by , snail mail, faxes, and phone calls. You stay in contact with them through newsletters, flyers, postcards, and letters. 10. You feel passionate about your work. It fuels your desire to learn about your customers, please them, and surpass their expectations. This passion extends to your co-workers, suppliers, and fusion partners. 42

43 Exercises What sort of technology do you currently use? How well have you put it to use? What technology that exists today would benefit you, and what ways can you see for making that investment pay off many times over? What are ways you see your current technology allowing you to get closer to your customers and form better relationships? If you are technophobic, make the commitment to sign up for at least one class to introduce you to the skills and benefits of technology. This is just too important a requirement of doing business in the next century to avoid. In what ways would creating a virtual office benefit your business and your life? List some realistic steps you could take to have a virtual office of your own. Include the equipment, space, and logistical requirements such a thing would require. 43

44 Guerrilla Marketing in Cyberspace What does the Internet mean for Guerrillas? Guerrillas know that there s a major difference between using the Internet, which is easy to do, and abusing the Internet, which is even easier to do. The single biggest key to success on the Internet is to understand marketing and what the Internet means for marketing. Really, the Internet is only one marketing weapon, and it must be combined with others for a successful campaign. When you do use the Internet, make sure that you see it within the context of your prospects lives. Don t just offer your own perspective on your Web site. Remember that all visitors love to learn. What is the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web? The Internet is a series of interconnected computer networks located throughout the world. The World Wide Web is a system of Internet servers that support specially formatted documents. What is a content provider? A content provider is someone who uses information as currency. He or she develops information using various media and then presents it to people who are interested in learning that information. If you have a Web site, you should consider yourself a content provider. No matter what your marketing plan, underneath it all, you re providing content. And the more that your content is a benefit to your prospects, the better you ll thrive online. The key to the online kingdom is content juicy, exclusive, valuable content will bring in the viewers again and again. A Guerrilla s Web site provides information that the competitor s sites aren t providing, both in quality and quantity. It changes regularly. It s fresh and new. Guerrilla content is heavy with text and laden with subheads for easy digestion while reading or scrolling. Also, the more interactivity your site offers, the better. Think of your Web site as the display window of a department store. 44

45 How should your prospect view your Web site? The prospect should be made to feel singled-out or unique. When she sends you e- mail, you should respond instantly, which will make her feel special. She will feel like she s receiving individual service. How does fusion-marketing work online? The Web is an excellent place to do fusion-marketing. Your site should be linked to those of many other marketing partners who share the same prospects and standards as you. Each of these links is a potential gateway to your site, and gateways mean visitors. How should you promote your site offline? You should build awareness of your site in the mass media of radio, TV, newspapers, and magazines, as well as direct mailings, with signs, and in directories. Add your Web address to your business card, letterhead, brochures, flyers all of your marketing. Put it on your voice mail and anywhere you list your address and phone number. Affix it to envelopes, invoices, catalogs, postcards, yellow pages ads, press releases, and newsletters. Do what proud parents do announce your new creation to the world. Notify your potential and current clients just as you would if you were having a change of address. Send postcard mailers to your prospects. How can you find your audience online? Specialized newsgroups and forums can provide a ready-made audience for your products and services. In chats and s, attach a four-line Internet signature after your name, including your Web site address, address, phone number, and fax number. What should an online Guerrilla know? Know exactly how to communicate. This means spelling and punctuating properly, being concise, and getting to the point. Use your language skillfully. Get to know the territory. Get comfortable with forums, newsgroups, conferences, chat sessions, classified ad sections, Web sites, and electronic publications. Learn how to post and respond to messages. Learn all about sending, reading, replying, forwarding, printing, and saving it. Be aggressive. You re invisible in the online world, and you ll remain that way until you start participating. Participate in discussion groups, post announce- 45

46 ments, publish articles of value, hold conferences, seek out listings and online directories, and search for linking partners. Visit your own site regularly and respond within 24 hours to all requests that are mailed to your site. Check the position of your online ads to make sure they re near the top of the message list, where they re most likely to be read. Keep posting messages to forums and newsgroups and continue to check for replies to them. Personalize as much as you can. Use the technology to establish warm human bonds. Follow up with tenacity. Once you establish a contact, knock yourself out to maintain it. Know what customers love to read about. They do not love to read about you. They love to read about their dreams, their problems, the solutions you can provide to their problems, and the benefits you can bestow them. Realize what makes online commerce so special. It s not merely the technology or the speed and convenience. As with any kind of commerce, it s the strength of your offer. Do a one-hour weekly surf through the Internet. Look for anything and be prepared for everything. Find yourself and find your competitors. Be alert for great ideas and terrible ideas, knowing you ll learn from both. You ll learn what s happening, what can happen, and keep one step ahead of the game. Exercises Does your business currently have a Web site? What s it like? How does it compare with the sites of similar businesses? Are you an active or passive presence on the Web? How many visitors does your site draw? How much business does it bring, directly and indirectly? If you have a site that isn t working as you had hoped, what are some ways you can improve it? Commit to using this invaluable tool for its maximum effectiveness. How much of a content provider are you? What information could you provide to your Web visitors that would keep them returning for more? Remember, your Web site should not be as much about you as it is about your prospects. 46

47 Becoming a Customer Service Superstar 20 ways Guerrillas prove to their customers and prospects that they really care Have a written document outlining the principles of your customer service. Establish support systems that give clear instructions for gaining and maintaining service superiority. Develop a precise measurement of superb customer service and reward employees who practice it consistently. Be certain that your passion for customer service runs rampant throughout the company, not just at the top. Do everything you can to instill in your employees a truly deep appreciation of the value of service. Be genuinely committed to providing more customer-service excellence than anyone else in your industry. Be sure that everyone who deals with customers pays close attention to the customer. Ask questions of the customer, then listen carefully to the answers. Stay in touch with your customer. Nurture a human bond as well as a business bond with your customers. Recognize that your customers have needs and expectations, and your job is to meet their needs and exceed their expectations. Understand why huge corporations define quality as conformance to customer requirements. Keep alert for trends, then react to them. Share information with people on the front line. Observe your customers birthdays and anniversaries. Consider holding parties so your customers can get to know your people better, and vice versa. Invest in telephone equipment and a Web site that makes your business sound friendly, easy to do business with, and professional. Design your physical layout for efficiency, clarity of language, lighting, handicap accessibility, and simplicity. Act on the knowledge that what customers value the most are attention, dependability, promptness, and competence. Use your good judgment in all situations. 47

48 What is a moment of truth? A moment of truth is any contact any customer has with any person in your organization. Have the goal to each of these moments of truth coming out in the customers favor. Pay attention to every detail you can think of, no matter how tiny, to ensure your customers are happy. How can you educate your customers? Quad Graphics, a Wisconsin printer, keeps customers abreast of technology by sponsoring camps in which customers learn to get the best printing values. H&R Block finds clients by offering classes to the general public. Home Depot shows customers how to use the things that it sells. How can you make your customer happy, even when things go wrong? Make sure that your customer comes out on top in every situation. Try to make things right, no matter who is at fault. Smart Guerrillas prove their mettle in the way they treat complaining customers. They solve the problem first, they apologize, then they deal with the red tape later. Complaining customers can even be assets to Guerrilla companies. Guerrillas pay close attention to complaints. A complaining customer has decided that there is something in the relationship worth saving or they wouldn t complain. Also, studies have proven that for every complaint you hear, there are 24 others that you don t hear. So be alert for consistent complaint patterns and then make the necessary repairs. Be sure to apologize when something goes wrong. That alone may be enough to convince many customers to give you another chance. Apologies don t cost anything, neither do written apologies that follow verbal ones. Do all you can to eliminate complaints quickly. Even if it s impossible, you ll be proving you care. Make it easy for customers to express their feelings about your service by means of a postage-paid questionnaire card, suggestion boxes, and letters to key customers asking for suggestions. This also proves that you care and indicates trouble spots. 48

49 What does it mean to fall in love with your customers? You give them all of your kindness and attention. You learn everything you can about them and do everything possible to make them happy. You sincerely care about them as special, unique people. You treat them with humor, respect, and reverence. Customers can sense this devotion. In return, they bond with you, make you part of their identity, and speak of you in glowing terms. They come back for more of what you have to offer. Many small businesses treat sales transactions like one-night stands: fun while they last, but soon forgotten. Guerrillas treat their sales transactions as the beginnings of beautiful and lasting relationships. What is the key to unforgettable customer service? Information. The more you know about each customer, the better you will be able to keep that customer happy. What kinds of things do Guerrillas know about their customers? What radio stations their customers listen to. Their favorite TV shows. What newspapers they read. Which magazines they subscribe to. The number and names of their kids. Where they went to college. What sports teams they support. Their favorite charities. The kind of cars they drive. How much money they earn. And many other details. They get this crucial information by asking for it. Questionnaires are mailed, posted on a Web site, ed, or handed out at trade shows. The responses are studied carefully, and action is taken based on what the Guerrillas have learned. What is one of the biggest deterrents to spectacular customer service? Spectacular growth. A big mistake is when businesses become addicted to growth by adding new customers rather than taking exceptional care of the ones they already have. 49

50 Should all customers be treated the same? No. All customers should be revered, but some should be treated with more reverence than others. Technology now allows small-business owners to keep track of many different kinds of client information and gain the competitive edge by tailoring their services to meet the needs of their customers. What two things do you need to know to be a customer-service superstar? Which of the new technologies your customers use and which your competitors use. Then act on the information. If your customers have , faxes, teleconferencing, and video conferencing, then you must, too. Exercises Rate yourself honestly when it comes to customer service. Spy on your company. Compare yourself to the competition. Do whatever it takes to obtain this absolutely crucial information. How well does your commitment to your customer shine through? Customer service is one of the most crucial investments you can make. No matter how good you are, you could always be better. List 20 specific ways you could improve your business s customer service and implement them immediately. As with all aspects of your business, so much of your success at customer service comes down to information. What information would be useful to you for improving your relationships with customers? How might you get it? Outline a comprehensive strategy for treating your prospects and your existing customers when they contact your company. Then create plans for dealing individually with some of your best customers. 50

51 Understanding the Impact of the Small-Business Revolution 10 revolutions that have impacted small businesses the most 1. Technology Revolution: The best location in town for a small business is the Internet. The Internet provides the Davids of the world with high-tech slings with which to do battle with the mega Goliaths. 2. Time Revolution: There is a new awareness of the importance of time, and there seems to be less of it than ever. But this awareness, combined with the Technology Revolution, should help create more free time in the future. 3. The Psychology Revolution: This allows us to discard notions about people that have never been proven and adjust our attitudes and actions to accommodate those that have. This is especially important in the study of what makes people buy what they do. 4. The Information Revolution: The Internet is the greatest source of information in history, which is good because the amount of information available keeps expanding exponentially. 5. The Love Revolution: Love is developing between businesses and customers, businesses and suppliers, businesses and employees, businesses and other businesses. And more couples than ever are working at home together. 6. The Consciousness Revolution: This is the underlying reason behind the Time Revolution and the Love Revolution. This leads people to strive to be in charge of their own destinies and embrace the technology that will allow them to do so. 7. The Education Revolution: The quality of education is increasing, not just from technology but also from the psychology of what facilitates learning. 8. The Connectivity Revolution: People are connecting with each other like never before in person and via telephones, pagers, fax machines, the Internet, networked computers, chat rooms, and video conferencing. This is making collaboration easier than ever before. 51

52 9. The Work Revolution: Small and home-based businesses are growing in number and are more able than ever to compete with much bigger ones. This revolution is being fueled by technology. 10. The Candor Revolution: This is asserting itself among a public that s tired of playing games and longs for honesty and disclosure. It s the great equalizer between people not considered equal in the past. What are advantages of small businesses over larger ones? There are three: flexibility, customer service, and personalization. Necessary, but contrasting, skills for small-business owners. They must be able to communicate effectively both with large numbers of people and one on one. They must excel in writing because of electronic networking, but they must also excel at speaking for more in-person networking. They must be superb both with the broad strokes of strategic planning and the crucial details of running a business. They must be at home with both the futuristic values of speed and candor and the traditional values of patience and love. They must be aggressive in both competition and collaboration, always with an eye toward profits. They must offer the credibility and professionalism of a big business and the warmth and personal touch of a small business. They must have a zealous commitment to established marketing and an eagle eye for innovation and trends. They must be able to act without worrying about what others think and also with acute sensitivity to what others feel. They must be able to grow and expand without sacrificing profitability, but profit and flourish without sacrificing humanity. They must be outstanding in their own field, no matter what it is, and also in marketing. 52

53 How should a Guerrilla view technology? As absolutely necessary, and as an investment, not an expense. Technology has a short payoff time and can help generate amazing profits. Also, instead of using technology to free up time for the business owner to engage in more work, Guerrillas use technology to free up time for themselves to engage in things other than work. What are the goals of a Guerrilla s small business? To establish as many relationships and render the best service possible. Increasing profitability. To create an environment in which the journey is every bit as pleasant or rewarding as the destination. To set up a company that is durable, flexible, and interdependent yet self-sufficient. The pursuit and attainment of excellence. To experience the thrill of challenge. Exercises Consider the meaning of the Time Revolution for your business and your life. What are some ways you can save yourself time? How can you show your customers how much you respect their time by making dealing with your business easier and quicker? Apply the goals of a Guerrilla business to your own. How do they overlap? What additional goals do you have for your own success and happiness in your business? 53

54 The Power of Advertising the Guerrilla Marketing Way What does Guerrilla advertising mean? Spending less on your advertising and getting more from it. Guerrilla advertising is done last, after all other marketing efforts. If you do it first, it will expose your weak spots. Guerrillas who advertise know exactly why they are advertising. 50 good reasons for Guerrillas to advertise Produce leads. Educate prospects about your benefits. Expand into new markets. Influence the people who influence others. Name recognition. Pre-selling to set the stage for your other marketing (such as a Web site). Expand upon a public-relations story. Tell the story of your company. Add authority to your sales presentations. Build your corporate identity. Build confidence in your products and services. Damage control. Keep your name at the forefront of your customers minds. Head off competitors at the pass. Go after business that your competitors have. Prove your quality with success stories. Make your stockholders happy and give them faith in their investment. Impress the financial community. Assert your leadership and prestige. Maintain a constant presence and build even more confidence in your business. Help your direct mail pay off. Assure the success of your telemarketing campaign. Make sure that your point-of-purchase signs work. 54

55 Gain distribution. Announce the existence of your new product or service. Gain credibility for a new product or service. Become a brand name. Announce a special promotion. Establish your niche and positioning in the marketplace. Highlight testimonials from satisfied customers. Test a headline, offer, price, or medium in which you re advertising. Create a desire to buy. Establish a presence in your community or in your industry. Attract foot traffic. Make sales. Obtain names for your mailing list. Inform many people at once about your benefits. Motivate people to call you on the phone or visit your Web site. Persuade people to complete and mail in a coupon. Research the responses to your offer. Emphasize exactly how the competition measures up. Prove your superiority with facts, graphics, or both. Buy new customers with an exceptional offer. Demonstrate your own confidence in your offering. Become a part of your community, industry, or cultural landscape. Put yourself on the level of others. Create reprints for your other marketing. Be seen with the right crowd. Show support for your reps, distributors, and employees. Earn a profit. 55

56 25 reasons why advertising fails Premature abandonment. Unrealistic positioning. Failure to focus. The advertiser starts without a plan. Picking the wrong media for the right audience. Picking the right media for the wrong audience. It s unclear to prospects. The advertiser doesn t understand the customers. The advertiser doesn t understand his or her product or service. Exaggeration that undermines the truth. It doesn t keep up with change. Unrealistic expectations. Overspending on production so there s not enough left for media placement, or underspending on production so it looks amateurish. The advertiser tries to save money in the wrong places. Attention to tiny but nuclear-powered details. The advertiser doesn t understand that the point of advertising is profitability. The advertiser thinks it can be done without hard work. Unimpressive first impressions. Good advertising was killed by committees or layers of management. Not using media to the greatest advantage. Not supported by other marketing. People starting out in the wrong direction. Advertisers allow success to give birth to lethargy. Advertisers judge the future by the past. It s boring! 56

57 10 things that make television commercials bad It s more entertaining than motivating. It s not clear with its promise. It s word-based, not visually-based. It s high pressure or it exaggerates. It lacks credibility. It s a fabulous film but a bad commercial. It s so clever or focused on a celebrity endorser that you forget the product and advertiser. It s so wrapped up in special effects that no idea comes shining through. It s too complex for the idea to come shining through. It s boring! 10 things that make television commercial superb It s more motivating than entertaining. It s clear about its competitive advantage. It s intensely visual. It s professional looking. It s believable and compelling. It creates a powerful desire. It s focused on advancing the sale, not on being clever. It s wrapped up with the product and the people who buy it. It demonstrates the benefit. It s fascinating even the tenth time you see it. Exercises Of the 50 reasons for a Guerrilla to advertise, which are relevant to your business? What were your stated reasons for advertising in the past, and how do they rate according to what you now know? Rate all of your advertising to make sure it doesn t contain any of the characteristics of ad failure. Is your business one that might benefit from a television commercial? If so, don t rule it out before you ve investigated the ad rates in your area for all of the appropriate channels and markets. 57

58 Knowledge and Reality According to Guerrillas 10 realities Guerrillas must face The state of the economy. The competitive sense. The latest technology for producing and exposing advertising. Any news that may impact your message. The advertising budget you must live with. The clutter of other advertising and the media surrounding your ads. The call of nature that lures TV viewers away from their sets during commercials. The prospect is not thinking about your marketing. The public s ho-hum attitude toward advertising. Knowing whether your ad is too clever to motivate people. 10 advantages Guerrillas have over non-guerrillas You have the insight of the Guerrilla. You can customize your advertising and marketing to your audience. Your pace assures you of quality and economy. Your advertising has the flexibility to adapt to change. You know that your advertising and marketing improves with time. You know that your advertising gains strength from your other marketing. You know that advertising doesn t work by itself. Your expectations are realistic. You know what advertising and marketing can do and what they can t. You know the value of commitment. 58

59 How many markets do you have? You have three markets. The first is your largest market, which is called the universe. The universe is anyone in your marketing area, but it delivers the fewest profits to your business. Even so, Guerrilla marketers invest 10% of their marketing budget talking to that universe. The second market is smaller but represents more money to your business. This market is called your prospects. These are members of the universe who fit your customer profile. You should devote 30% of your marketing budget to talking to your prospects. The third market is the smallest but represents the greatest profits to your business by far. This market is your customers. You should spend 60% of your marketing budget talking to those customers. What are your Guerrilla obligations? To increase your profit base and your customer base. Talk to the universe and make those people your prospects, then talk to the prospects and make them your customers. Then talk to your customers and make them happy. Who are your greatest allies when it comes to marketing? It s a three-way tie for first place: your employees, your customers, and your fusionmarketing partners. What is your most deadly marketing enemy? Apathy to the sale. Sixty-eight percent of business is lost due to apathy after the sale due to a love-em-and-leave-em attitude. You must follow up! What is your most important long-term goal? Brand-name awareness. Once you become a brand name, your profits will take care of themselves. People trust brand names, and this confidence is the biggest determinant of why people buy from where they buy. How many businesses are you in? Four. You re in your own business. You re in the people business. You re in the service business. And you re in the marketing business. 59

60 What is the definition of creativity in marketing? Something that generates profits for your company. Where does creativity come from? Knowledge. The more knowledge you have, the more creative you can be. Creativity starts with an idea, not a special effect or a jingle. Who are your potential fusion-marketing partners? People who have the same prospects as you and people who have the same standards as you. Of all human activities, what is marketing the most like? Flossing your teeth. It s not something you look forward to in the morning, but not adding it to your daily routine will cause a lot of trouble. When is the best time to launch a Guerrilla Marketing attack? There are two best times 20 years ago and tomorrow! The kinds of knowledge Guerrillas need Knowledge about yourself. Knowledge about your prospects. There are three kinds of prospects that exist for you: the ones who already buy your product or service, the ones who ought to buy your product or service, and the prospects who are about to buy your product or service. Your job is to give them a reason to buy now, buy soon, or buy later. Knowledge about who makes the purchase decisions in your target market. Knowledge about the problems of your prospects so you can position yourself as a solution. Knowledge about the prospects hot buttons. Is it price? Speed? Convenience? What do they want? Knowledge of your competition. Knowledge of the current business climate. Knowledge of your own strengths, limitations, and benefits. 60

61 10 areas in which Guerrillas seek knowledge Their customers Their prospects. Their competitors. Equivalent businesses elsewhere. Their own industry. Current events. Economic trends. Their own offerings. Their own community. Successful advertising and marketing. 10 things your advertising should always be Readable. Informative. Clear. Honest. Simple. On strategy. Motivating. Competitive. Specific. Believable. 10 things you should never do with your graphics Don t let the art overpower the idea. Don t let the art overpower the headline. Don t let the art overpower the copy. Don t let the art fail to advance the sale. Don t let the art fail to grab casual readers or viewers. Don t let the art fail to get the ad noticed. Don t let the art fail to be different. Don t let the art be created in a hurry. Don t let the art fight with the product s identity. Don t let the art dominate the ad. 61

62 Ways to make your marketing and advertising budgets work harder for you Eliminate wasteful media. Use more of your proven media. Improve your creative message. Gain from the synergy of your other marketing weapons. Establish a trusted brand name to gain the confidence of your target audience. Stick with a single campaign. Don t invest in unnecessary pizzazz. Run regular small ads rather than irregular large ads. Create timeless marketing materials. Find multiple uses for photographs, illustrations, and testimonials. Wait for your printer to have gang runs. Use good acting school students in your television and radio spots. Plan ahead to get frequency discounts on advertising. Negotiate and barter for television and radio time. Do fusion advertising. Be alert for anything that detracts from your message. Learn about your prospects from questionnaires before you begin advertising. Advertise more to customers than to prospects. Constantly measure your message and media. Merchandise your advertising. Ask yourself if advertising is the best way to reach your target audience. Hire a top professional to produce your first advertisement and set the pace and style. Somewhere in your advertising, invite further dialogue (such as listing your Web address). Use your package or receipt to sell something else. 62

63 Ten things that Guerrillas test Quality of their offering. Price. Offer. Creative message. Headline. Packaging. Media. Mailing lists. Employees. Web sites. The steps to create real Guerrilla advertising Research. Study your advertising strategy. Study your benefits and competitive advantage. Generate many ideas and pick the best one. Crate your headline. Create the subheadline. Develop the graphic approach. Incorporate sound effects or special effects (in radio or TV commercials). Write the copy. Edit, edit again, and edit some more. Show your finished ad to other people, especially prospects. Measure your idea against your strategy. Sleep on it. Review your idea in the light of a new day. Improve the idea, headline, subheadline, and copy. Improve the visual presentation. View a dummy copy of your ad in a real publication. Plan how to extend one ad into a whole campaign. Be sure the finished ad will be clear to your prospects. Be honest in assessing if the ad will truly generate profits. 63

64 Exercises How well do you face Guerrilla realities? In what way have these realities harmed you in the past? How can you envision benefiting within their framework in the future? One of your most important activities as a Guerrilla Marketer is to test which of your marketing weapons are working for you. Which of your own efforts can you test and how will you go about it? Contact expert consultants and commission them to rate your past advertising strategies and help you set the pace for new ones. NIGHTINGALE-CONANT CORPORATION 6245 WEST HOWARD STREET NILES, ILLINOIS PG1 Printed in U.S.A. 64